What are your thoughts on abortion?

“Almost all organs are completely formed by about 10 weeks after fertilization
(which equals 12 weeks of pregnancy). The exceptions are the brain and spinal cord…”

https://www.merckmanuals.com/en-ca/home/women-s-health-issues/normal-pregnancy/stages-of-development-of-the-fetus

No one knows if the fetus/baby feels or has that capability?

I’m pro-choice, and have participated in rallies supporting pro-choice.

Oof, I am going to state my opinion then immediately unfollow this question because I have been here long enough lol

Pro choice.

I’m 100% pro-choice. I think it should be entirely up to the pregnant woman.

(Oh, and although I feel this way in any case, for many reasons, even if I didn’t, I probably would anyway, based on the reasoning that it’s going to be a disaster to try to prevent women from having abortions if they want them. As we know from the past, many women in that position will do whatever they can, which ends up being far more dangerous and terrible.)

It’s up to the pregnant woman.

I am personally against it, but I feel it is the Mother’s choice.

A woman’s body is her own business.

I’m pro-abortion.
I’m not necessarily pro-choice.
I’m truly pro-abortion.
More abortions, the better.
We are severely overpopulated.

Abortions should remain safe and legal! Not sure if I am conservative.

Post birth and partial birth abortion, I might have trouble with BUT like
Genghis Kahn I too want save the planet from overpopulation.

I am pro choice.

First I’m pro (sex-) education, pro informing people on precautionary measures re procreation.
I’m also pro choice.
I’m also pro life (in general, overall).

Well then @rebbel You’re a pro!

Pro Choice. And the choice is to be made by the woman..

Furthermore all births that do not have a father listed on the birth certificate must have a DNA test performed on the baby before any free medical benefits are offered. The baby-daddy must be held accountable..

Good observation, @WhyNow!

It should be a personal choice.

Abortion is one of those things that is nebulous. There isn’t one set definition when people talk about it nor is there one aspect they consider important. Technically, if a woman miscarries, it is an abortion. Nothing you can do about that and it isn’t a “choice”...it just happens sometimes. I believe that there are times that medical abortions are necessary. But I don’t believe in using medical abortion in place of poor judgement, lack of personal responsibility or any of the other stupid reasons they happen. I also don’t feel that medical abortion should be considered up to or past the point of birth as the left wingers do. I’m not against birth control…actually quite the opposite…and I really don’t have a problem with the morning after pills. As for it’s a woman’s body so its her choice, I feel that is true for single women but gets sketchy for married women. AND I find it to by hypocritical in the medical world. When I went for a vasectomy, I had to take forms home to have my wife sign them before the doctor was allowed to perform the operation. I had to get her permission for the procedure. If I was single, that wouldn’t have been an issue, nor, in the current world, if I was a woman would it have been an issue.

Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

Just for the record I am pro choice as well.
There are incest cases, rape cases to consider.

It’s none of my business what a woman does with her body with a qualified medical professional. It’s certainly not the government’s job, especially with laws that cannot capture the nuances of pregnancy as this anti-choice conservative found out.

Sometimes I wish I had been aborted.

Pro-Life. Unless science proves otherwise in future, 12 weeks and after would be emergency only.

@KNOWITALL Define “emergency.”

There are tens of thousands of weird scenarios that can occur with miscarriages and such. MD’s are not going to want to risk their careers and going to jail to defend a fuzzy line in court. Malpractice insurance isn’t going to want to cover them and the patient’s insurance isn’t going to want to pay for anything they can get away with not paying for.

Pro-Choice.

I’m pro-choice, while acknowledging that there are shitty choices made for shitty reasons, that should be dealt with through education, support and good old fashioned social pressure.

It’s healthcare. And of course women should be able to control their body. No restrictions, no caveats.

Women should also be able to go to school and drive.

@gorillapaws Generally, life threatening risks to either of the parties involved.

@Cindy1302 Most Republicans I know prefer no abortions which is why most clinics in our states are gone. We believe it’s a preventable situation and education & support are key to ending the practice.

Maybe as a starter, we take post birth and partial birth to be too bloody gruesome.
We can start coming to some kind of an agreement. Not everybody will be happy
but government mandates and laws always pisses somebody off.

I am so ready to bring a child along on my next adventure it skews my thinking.
Just me… just sayin.

@WhyNow There is no such thing as “post birth abortion” – that is a Conservative talking point that makes no sense. Sometimes a baby is not viable after birth and dies; that is a human tragedy that no laws should interfere with. And by the way, leg amputations and open heart or cancer surgeries are bloody gruesome too; nobody’s asking you to watch.

@KNOWITALL I’m glad you’ve tempered your views somewhat. There should be some common ground somewhere that protects the life of the mother and supports women who choose to have babies. Question: Does your state provide mandated sex education and free contraception so that unwanted pregnancies can mainly be avoided?

It’s propaganda bullshit by the right saying late term abortions,most doctors would only do a late term abortion if the mother’s health or life was in great jeopardy, fright wingers would have you believing it was common place.

Thank you for pointing that out, @janbb. By definition, once a baby is born, whatever is done to it is not an abortion.

@seawulf575 Interesting…when I was 21 & married to an abusive man who “had to have sex 4 times a day” & told me that he wanted NO children & IF I got pregnant that he would beat me until he killed my baby. In doing the math, I knew that the odds were that I was going to get pregnant as it was “NOT his responsibility to prevent the pregnancy” (his words NOT mine). So, I go to my doctor to get birth control pills & I was given the checkup & a form for my husband to sign giving me permission to ask the doctor for the prescription & giving the doctor permission to prescribe the birth control pills. Had I been a man wanting a vasectomy, I wouldn’t have needed any permission!!! He made it clear that he was NOT going to get a vasectomy because he was keeping his manhood intact!!!

@Cindy1302 To answer your Q, although abortion is NOT a choice that I would make, I believe in the rights of EVERY individual to make their own decision!!! It is NOT my place to determine what is best for you, so I leave it to you to decide what it is that you need!!! And since I don’t do threesomes, I’d also appreciate it if the government would stay out of my bedroom!!!

@KNOWITALL “Generally, life threatening risks to either of the parties involved.”

Pregnancy is inherently life threatening. A pregnant woman’s body goes into a Thrombophillic state that makes it much more likely to develop blood clots which could lead to a fatal pulmonary embolism. That’s just one example.

The real point, as the situation mentioned in the article I linked illustrates, is that there is an immense amount of complexity surrounding the situations that can arise even in planned pregnancies that are abnormal in some way. That woman who wanted a child was told by her OB not to get pregnant in Texas. The laws are so punitive that MDs will wait to intervene until you’re basically knocking on death’s door just to protect themselves, their hospitals, etc. I don’t see how a law can be worded to address the nuances of these situations because they’re inherently complex and situational.

@janbb Born alive.
About 4,830,000 results (0.82 seconds)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/did-obama-vote-to-deny-rights-to-infant-abortion-survivors/2012/09/07/9852895a-f87d-11e1-8398-0327ab83ab91_blog.html

@WhyNow Once a baby is born, it’s no longer defined as an abortion.

@SQUEEKY2 – sure, people exaggerate the frequency, post 20 week abortions are about 1% of all abortions, but pro choice would have you believe it’s zero, or at least exclusively about maternal health or fetal abnormalities incompatible with life. In reality, post 20 week abortions are also done for for reasons of bias against disability, or for reasons of belief about the mother’s ability to care for the child, or for reasons related to the character/actions of the father.

It doesn’t take many poorly reasoned post 20 week abortions to upset people. We’re talking dead babies here. You may not see it that way, but a viable fetus aborted because of bias sure seems like a victim to me.

Pro choice. There is no such thing as post birth abortion.

A 20 week old fetus is not viable.

Even at 30 weeks, it’s going to take a whole hell of a lot of medical interventions and then special interventions and therapies for that fetus to survive, @Smashley.

@janbb Yes, its mandatory in hs health and anyone can go to various clinics for free condoms.

@gorillapaws Yes, I’‘ve had girlfriends in every scenario who were very open, I do understand.

@janbb ‘And by the way, leg amputations and open heart or cancer surgeries are bloody gruesome too; nobody’s asking you to watch.’ These are meant to save a life. Post birth
abortions are meant to end a life.

@jca2 And yet in born alive abortions the baby, if not saved will end up dead. But we
have to think about over population and the climate so dead babies are a small
price to pay.

There is no such thing as a “Post birth abortion.” No. Such. Thing.

Just to add, just because you read the term “post birth abortion” on the interwebs does not make it so.

@jca2 – but by 24 weeks, there’s a 60% survival rate. 20 is just the necessarily early line drawn to protect potential viable fetuses from regular abortion.

@jca2 Post birth abortions is just propaganda by fright wingers!

I know many will not like my reply but I feel what I say has to be said.

The number of unwanted pregnancies are rising alarmingly because of those who can’t be bothered to take 100% effective measure to prevent them.

They know that it is so easy to get a quick sometimes free abortion.

I live in the UK and these abortions are performed free of charge, so it gives no one the incentive to take precautions.

I believe abortions should be freely available to those who if they became pregnant it could harm either the mother or the baby is they allowed the pregnancy to continue, or a baby could be born severely handicapped.

I also believe abortions should be free for girls who have been raped and that rape has ended up in them becoming pregnant.

These are the only reasons I support abortion.

Those who become pregnant because they did not want to become pregnant, but both the man and the woman would not take inexpensive precautions have only themselves to blame.

My wife desperately wanted a child and tried every possible way to have a baby.

Eventually she found she was pregnant, and we were overjoyed. But unfortunately, she suffered and ectopic pregnancy and lost her baby. We were obviously heartbroken.

The ectopic pregnancy damager her fallopian tubes so she went to the hospital for an operation in the hope they could be repaired.

While she was in there in the same ward were 6 young teenagers who had got pregnant without taking any precautions and were there to have abortions.

You can imagine how my wife felt. She was trying desperately to have a child and there were 6 young girls who got pregnant needlessly having an abortion.

To add insult to the wound they were laughing about it and one even said should does not care if she gets pregnant again because getting an abortion was so easy.

@jca2 How about born alive abortions? Can I sell you that one?
Born alive abortions About 4,830,000 results (0.82 seconds)

You know conservatives for wanting smaller government less regulations and everything private ,sure want to have control over women’s bodies!

@WhyNow – how about some facts instead of an accounting of raw google returns?

“moon landings fake”
About 527.000 results (0,70 seconds)

“jews did 911”
About 2.020.000 results (0,64 seconds)

“trickle down economics works”
About 2,750,000 results (0.53 seconds)

@Poseidon Well I would like to say I agree with you but you’ll be hated like me,
so I gave you a great answer.

@Smashley If I try to give you facts, I will be accused of not backing up my facts.

“donald trump is a lizard”
About 993.000 results (0,70 seconds)

^^ So you guys are saying I don’t need to back up my statements? Bless you!

donald trump is a lizard… One of those is from me.

@WhyNow – they’re saying that a quantity of google hits does not the truth make. Hits does not equal evidence or truth. They are mocking you.

I am pro-choice. Have been an active voter on the subject since Bill Clinton was first elected.

I know they are trying to mock me… is it not obvious I know?

I simply am showing how many places you have to find the truth.

I find the word pro-choice is poorly worded for this situation. There are women in need of abortion but it doesn’t mean they felt they have a choice in the matter. Sometimes is medical and sometimes it’s their personal circumstance. So I am pro-need. I try to look at it like any other medical necessity.

The thought that some women have late abortions usually isn’t about needing to get rid of an unwanted burden. It more often than not has to do with either the health of the fetus or of the mother. So if she needs an abortion then that should be decided by her and her doctor. Not some stupid bureaucrats or anti-abortionists that have no skin in the game.

I read an article where a woman had to carry a dead fetus for 2 weeks and get two vaginal (raping instruments in my opinion) ultrasounds to confirm the baby was dead before she could get an abortion. Normally a regular doctor would’ve performed it but she had to go to an abortion clinic to get it done. She and her husband wanted another child but it was dead. Why did she have to be tormented this way?

This is why I call it pro-need. She didn’t have a choice. This was a medical need.
At this moment there are children who are being burned, violently hit, severely neglected, raped, and pedaled out to other abusers for sex and going hungry. I rather they had been aborted than have to live that way. I only see more of that happening in our future. More unwanted children who aren’t loved but are seen as a burden. By both the parents and the society that ignores their plight after they are born. I almost forgot. And being murdered. Drowning, beaten to death, starved to death, or shot.

@Poseidon That is a crappy situation but can you imagine how lousy those immature girls would be if they had the babies? Ideally, women who have had surgery like your wife’s should be in a different ward.

I can only imagine the sadness you both must feel.

@Pandora So eloquently put.

My precise thoughts are, to all intents & purposes, irrelevant.
I’ve never been pregnant see…

It’s entirely an aesthetic perference.

If you really don’t like abortions and are profoundly against them, then don’t have one.

No one is forcing you.

This is an issue I’ve never felt very strongly about, in either direction. What I do feel is that those who oppose abortion are often obsessed with bans to the exclusion of actually trying to lower the demand for abortions. Because in many ways, bans don’t actually stop people from having them. The focus should be on making it so that fewer people are motivated to have them. Meanwhile calling the pro-choice side “baby killer” or the pro-life side “only cares about you until you’re born” isn’t solving shit. Meanwhile ten-year-olds who’ve been raped are having to cross into another state to get an abortion (a state which has now banned it).

1. Let the people directly decide whether they want to ban abortion, as was done in Kansas. “Trigger laws” are BS.
2. Increase social welfare for families and mothers so that having a baby (often another baby) doesn’t seem like a world-ending prospect.
3. Recognize that most of this is “culture war” posturing and is not actually about infants and mothers. It’s about politics.

I expressed my opinion on this before so I’ll keep it short. I support a woman’s right to her OWN body. She should have the final say about what happens to/for her. If abortion is her choice I respect her decision, if having a baby is her decision that’s fine also.

@WhyNow: Sandy Hook shootings hoax – try that one. Just because you obtain google hits doesn’t mean those are areas for “seeking the truth.” Those are areas for lunatics to post some bullshit and the doubters to chime in about how they all agree with it. It has nothing to do with facts.

Most people I know who are 100% pro-life are profoundly religious. If people think about it objectively, they’ll be pro-choice. They may not like it and find it horrible, but they will understand the necessity of it.

Where I don’t agree it shouldn’t be used as just a form of birth control it’s still the woman’a choices and her body.
I do agree in cases or rape, incest,or the mothers health I am for it a billion percent.

@LadyMarissa GA. Sorry about your douchey husband. For the record I am against domination as well in a relationship…from either side. But the restriction for me was that the doctor had to get the wife’s approval…it was required by law at the time. And this was after RvW and the “my body, my choice” things had hit. It’s one more example of inconsistency in our society.

I am pro-choice, but I don’t think it is sufficient to say that a woman has a right to do what she wants with her body. Having an abortion is not the same as having a tonsil removed. The pro-life issue must be answered. A zygote is a living organism. Those who are pro-life say that upon conception, the zygote is endowed with a soul and is fully human. I disagree that a zygote is a full human. A full human has a brain and is conscious. Having an abortion does kill a life, but not one that is remotely human.

@seawulf575 As usual, you missed my point. I wasn’t looking for sympathy. I had the SAME restriction as you, but mine was simply for birth control pills of which the effect could be reversed by stopping taking them. I had NOT requested a permanent fix!!! Later on, I DID request a permanent fix & I was told NO WAY…not even with my husband’s permission!!! Hence, I see NO inconsistency.

^ The Lady M… I too was shaken by your post.

@LostInParadise “A zygote is a living organism.” Not unlike any other animal. Just sayin’ ...

10 or 20 week old zygote/fetus is not a “baby.”

@LoveAndWisdom, Then you must be opposed to killing rats, mosquitos and bacteria.

Also must be vegan.
A freshly hatched chicken has a greater right to live than a fetus, but they are sent straight to the shredder.

21 weeks old, less than 1% chance of survival (and that’s with a shitload of medical intervention and almost a year in the hospital). Smaller than the hamburger you had from a restaurant, at less than 14 ounces.

https://news.yahoo.com/alabama-boy-sets-record-worlds-164221197.html

@jca2 – why do you equate need for medical care with right to life?

Not equating anything, @Smashley. Just offering some facts.

I got an idea if you are totally against abortion then never, never,never have one, but why do you feel because of your beliefs no one should ever have one?
Do you really have that right over others?
My personal belief abortions shouldn’t be used as just a form of birth control, but as I have said before in cases of rape,incest,or the mothers life or health is in danger I am a billion percent for it.
And the state of Ohio refusing to provide an abortion to a 10 year old rape victim was totally disgusting, and I hope those politicians lose huge in the mid terms.

@SQUEEKY2 OMG!! Are you serious? Oh God I feel sick

Yeah, @RayaHope she and her parents were forced to travel outside the state to get the abortion done, and the doctor that did the procedure came under fire from that states politicians, Fright wingers when first hearing about this rape of a 10 year old just called it another lie by the evil left, but then when the Raper was arrested they had to back track.
A 10 year old probably couldn’t physically carry a fetus to term, but Ohio didn’t care they said they detected a heart beat and couldn’t provide an abortion, plus she was three days over the six week limit that Ohio has for getting an abortion.

^^ That is so horrible I have no words for what should happen to those ba$tards that put her through that. I begin to lose faith in humanity when I hear stuff like this :(

@SQUEEKY2 – I don’t see how you can be against casual, early term abortion but in favor of post 20 week abortion, based on the parentage or actions of the father. It just doesn’t seem consistent.

Who said early term abortions??
It’s the woman’s choice, I said I don’t agree with it being used as just a form of birth control,but I wouldn’t force my views on any woman, you did get the part where Rape,incest, or the mothers health or life is in danger I am strongly in favour of it?
What does bother me is the fright wing propaganda of late term abortions being common place that is a lie.

I very much hope that this abortion issue ,comes and bites Republicans big time come November .

@Smashley THAT GIRL WAS 10 YEARS OLD!!! 10!!!

Since the right insists on bringing religion into the subject, God tells me that it is between HIM & the person having the abortion & it is NOT my place to judge or butt in; so, i stay OUT of it & do my best to support the woman having to make that decision!!! As a Christian, we’re supposed to share our LOVE!!!

My Lady M… I’m waiting for my share. wink wink.

I already love you @WhyNow…it’s just sometimes you say things that I don’t like so much…I don’t have to like you to love you!!!

@LadyMarissa My heart is melting… thank you for being such a good sport.

^^ My pleasure!!!

@RayaHope – I know the girl was ten, and I’m glad she was able to get an abortion long before the viability window began, at which point it might not be so cut and dry. But I’m concerned with whether there is a point at which a fetus has a right not to be aborted, regardless of the situation of its conception. Certainly we all believe that right exists 2 minutes before term birth (unless you’re @hat), but how far back towards conception does it go?

Squeeky expressed uneasiness with abortion being used as casual birth control… presumably because squeaky believes there is something wrong with some abortions, so that it should not be done casually. Squeeky wouldn’t regulate this morality, but there’s something there, no? It stands to reason that even to squeaky, a pre-viable fetus is something important.

Then squeaky put forward that even abortions into the viability window are acceptable, if not preferable, if the father committed rape or is related to the mother. I see this as problematic because it allows us to remove that genuine uneasiness that squeaky and most of us feel at casual abortion, and invalidate it because of the character of the father. How has the fetus changed when it’s father is a rapist? How does that quality of the fetus remove any rights we might feel it deserves?

To squeaky, zygotes and fetuses are worth some protection, which may increase with age, but every bit of that protection is voided by the fetus’ father being a rapist or related to the mother. There doesn’t seem to be any line where a child of rape afforded the right to exist, even well after viability. Are term rape babies just awful, worth nothing human beings then? Why does this mark invalidate whatever humanity we would have afforded them without it?

I’m aware of the many difficulties here, which is why I generally support a 20 week cutoff. No reason needed before, only an abnormality of the fetus incompatible with life, or large risk to the health of the mother, after that window. And yes, as Jca2 pointed out on several occasions, a 20 week fetus is not viable at the current state of medical technology, but swiftly thereafter, they can be, which is why you cheat the line a little early.

The health angle makes sense, especially since not all risks are evident in early pregnancy, but I wonder where the actual line for maternal risk sits? How many risk points invalidate how many weeks into viability the fetus is?

These are only the most favorable examples. In reality, post 20–24 week fetuses are also aborted for reasons of patent ableism, and the myriad of bad reasons that fall under “no reason legally required”

It just seems like you guys haven’t fully fleshed out what you do think, except @hat, who is wrong but consistent :]

You forgot to mention @Smashley what about the rights of the woman?
Why should she be forced to carry it to term,when it was conceived through a horrible crime to the woman, doesn’t she have any rights especially since the pregnancy was totally NOT her fault,she wasn’t being careless in cases like these if the woman wants it gone we should be falling overselfs to accommodate her not say sorry but it has more rights than you do you have to carry it to term and be reminded every minute for the whole nine months of the crime that was committed and you have to suffer for.

@Smashley I guess I should make it more clear my stance for casual abortions, with so many options of birth control , there really shouldn’t be a need for casual abortions, BUT again I won’t force my views on any woman.
What does bother me is a lot of extreme fright wingers are against birth control, and to me that is as wrong as you view abortions.
Walk in clinics give out free condoms,and here other choices as well but those you have to pay for.
I really hope the Rights abortion ban in their states comes back and bites them in the ass big time come November,and I plan to bring up that 10 year old rape victim as an example every chance I get.

@Smashley @SQUEEKY2 I think it should be up to the girl/woman that was violated and NOT everyone else’s! Keep politics out of my womb.

I totally agree @RayaHope it’s her choice if she wants to carry her rapers fetus to term then we should respect that,if she wants it gone then we should totally respect that as well.
NOT some fucking law saying oh it’s sad you were violated ,but the fetus has more rights than you and you have to carry it to term.

As I have said before the Republicans claim they are for smaller government, less regulations ,and everything privatized ,but they want total control over women’s bodies.

…AND that is so WRONG!! Why do they want to control us so badly? :(

Because they feel that wonderful little fetus has every right to be born , regardless of any circumstance, they want a total ban Rape,incest, or the mothers health or life doesn’t matter it only matters that it is born.
Just remember this going into the midterms ,I want this to bite them so bad.

Dems are so ‘bodily autonomy’ except of course if you don’t vaccinate.

Then you are ostracized.

@WhyNow self-owns like nobody else on this site. It’s astounding.

I don’t even know how to respond to that answer @WhyNow .
Getting vaccinated protects you and others, but if you don’t want he shot then for fucks sake don’t get it but don’t go out in public,do your shopping online,work from home and so on.
WE as a planet have never seen a virus like covid it has killed millions, and the precautions we take such as social distancing ,masks, and the vaccines are great advances in protecting ourselves and others can we still get it YES , but adhering to these few things greatly reduces the chance, but lets keep bitching about masks, and vaccines and mandates that the evil government wants us to do.

@hat I have no idea what you just said.

@SQUEEKY2 PERFECT ANSWER!! I wish I could communicate like you do! :)

“I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”
― Ronald Reagan [Ex President Reagan]
That has to be one of the best quotes ever, and in such few words!!! Even if it were Trump who had said it, one and one is two.

By the way the pro abortionists don’t learn that in part, what brought about Trump getting elected, is the pro abortion movement /RvW. If there were no President Trump there probably, would be no Jan 6. (Edited)

“I’ve noticed that everyone who is for abortion has already been born.”
Yes, truly a genius statement. <eyeroll>

@chefl I’m NOT pro-abortion I’m pro-women’s rights!!

@chefl ”...That has to be one of the best quotes ever, and in such few words!!!”

If it stated all of its implied premises (and had more of those word things) then the stupidity of the argument would be obvious.

Following Reagan;s logic, you can also say that all those in favor of allowing people to drive cars have not been in a fatal car accident.

@SQUEEKY2 – well being against birth control is dumb and wrong. I equally believe that the woman has very important rights, but at some point in pregnancy, the fetus should gain the protection of rights as well. We already legally recognize some of these rights in the broadly accepted legal concept of a crime against an unborn child.

To protect the rights of the mother, she should have unlimited freedom to terminate a pregnancy, by the means of her and a doctor’s choosing, up to a certain point of gestation. Even beyond that threshold, the rights of the fetus should be secondary to the mother’s in cases of unusual risk to health or life. I’m fine with these things, but when it comes to rape, except in the most unusual circumstances, a woman has months to make the decision, before we have to talk about fetal rights. I just don’t see how we can ethically terminate a fetus that should have legal protections, because of the nature of its conception or genetics, that have nothing to do with it’s ability to live or thrive

I would think most rape victims if they want it gone, they are not going wait .
Incest might be deferent ,because she most likely living with her attacker.

@Smashley You go to sleep one night and then you wake up and there is another human connected to you via surgical tubes. A third person explains, “this other person has a rare condition and needs your body to help him to survive. If you disconnect the hoses they will die. This process will permanently alter your body.”

Are you obligated to allow this? In this case, you have a human with full personhood and all the rights that entails.

@Smashley I think the operative word in the case of rape is thrive. Do you really think many women would do well at raising a child that is the product of rape? Maybe turn it around and say that the rapists have to raise any babies that result from a rape. Is that a clearer example?

If access to abortion is clear and easily accessed, then I agree that most victims would probably choose to abort sooner. But there is tremendous trauma to overcome plus the difficulty of obtaining an abortion. Perhaps the best solution is morning after medication to be made available after a rape although the victim might not come forth right away.

And besides, who are you to judge when a victim of trauma is ready to be retraumatized?

How does one prevent rape? Not go out on dates?

@LostInParadise Or never drink anything at a party?? Or better yet, stay home and wear a chastity belt.

Oh and if you decide to help this person out, we have this gun with 100k chambers and we’ve loaded 28 bullets randomly into it (more if you’re poor/black and fewer if you’re rich/white). You’re going to have to put that to your head and pull the trigger too.

@chefl Little girls generally don’t drink or go out to bars. They should feel safe in their homes but their daddies or creepy uncles rape them in their beds.
Watch Dateline sometime. Women are in their own homes in their own beds and some monster breaks in and rapes and kill them.
The BTK KILLER broke in homes and raped women. The Night Stalker broke in homes and raped.
But you know what? Women CAN go to bars, drink, have fun just like men.

Women can go to bars, drink, have fun and should go to bars and drink and have fun. @chefl remember women can and do get raped just walking down the street.

On the subway, a women was getting raped while bystanders took out
phones and pressed rec.

I have a eclectic position that pretty much ensures everyone disagrees with me. I think Roe was a bad decision, and overturning it was the right call. It’s an issue that should be decided in state legislatures…BUT, the right decision is for it to be legal up to a certain number of months, and not after excepting where medically necessary for the mother’s health.

My opposition to Roe ensure everyone on the left hates me. My claim that it should be legal ensures everyone on the right hates me. But I think this is the right position. The courts had no rational legal basis for Roe. It was judicial overreach. Further, the issue has no business in a FEDERAL court or legislature as the constitution grants the federal govt no power over this issue. It should be a state legislative decision. Let democracy work. This was a point made by Ruth Bader Ginsburg among others.

However, because the subject of where HUMAN life truly begins is so contentious, the legislature should mostly stay out of it. Let each person make their own moral decisions. Most western nations allow abortion, but put reasonable time limits on it so that as a fetus develops and becomes more human-like, abortion becomes prohibited after that point.

Most EU countries have varying time frames. Some are arguably too long, some arguably too short. That’s about what I expect US states will look like after everyone calms the F down. Right now, we have everyone on the right and left rushing to try to codify their preference to force everyone to do what THEY want them to do…but after this initial crazyness, I think most center-right people will come around to realizing that making abortion illegal is crazy, and most center-left will realize that NO time limit is also pretty crazy. And we’ll MOSTLY meet in the middle

^^ The “abortion” issue should NOT be a political issue at all! It’s NOT their business what a woman does with her body! period!

I have heard the claim it should be up to each state, and shouldn’t be a federal issue then Why is Lindsey Grahm trying to put a federal bill forward that it would have a 15week limit nation wide?
THAT DOESN“T SOUND LIKE IT’S LEAVING IT TO EACH STATE!!